Baseball Gears Up to Face Illinos

The Boilers will host Illinois in a four game series this weekend.

April 30, 1998

The Purdue baseball team hosts Big Ten leader Illinois in a four-game series this weekend at Lambert Field. The series begins with a single game at 4 p.m. on Friday, a double-header at 1 p.m. on Saturday and a single game at 1 p.m. on Sunday. Purdue (22-23 overall, 8-12 in the Big Ten) is seven games in back of first-place Illinois (31-17, 15-5). The Boilers have won six of their last seven games, including three Big Ten victories over Northwestern last weekend in Evanston, Ill.

Purdue is led offensively by senior Bill Bennett and sophomores Daryl Hallada and Chris Walker. Bennett leads the team with 15 doubles, eight home runs and 37 RBI. Hallada and Walker are both hitting over .400 this season.

The Illini feature a strong pitching staff, led by right-hander Brett Weber. Weber, who is 8-2 overall this season, is a perfect 5-0 with a miniscule 1.37 ERA in conference games. As a team, the Fighting Illini carry a .338 batting average and have scored 107 more runs than their opponents.